Iran | Executions in Zahedan, Zanjan, Ardabil, Ramhormoz, Isfahan

Iranian authorities have executed Mohammad Afrookhteh, a Baloch prisoner from Sib and Suran, and Mohammad Yousefi Azad, from Eslamshahr, in separate cases at Zahedan and Zanjan central prisons.

According to information received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Mohammad (Cheragh) Afrookhteh, 30, was executed at Zahedan Central Prison in the early hours of Sunday, August 16, 2026.

Informed sources said Afrookhteh had been arrested three years earlier on charges of “premeditated murder” and was subsequently sentenced to death.

Mohammad Yousefi Azad, 25, from Eslamshahr in Tehran Province, was executed at Zanjan Central Prison in the early hours of Thursday, July 30, 2026, on drug-related charges.

He had been arrested three years earlier on the same charges and was subsequently sentenced to death.

Neither execution has been announced by Iranian state media or outlets affiliated with the judiciary.

At least four prisoners executed in Ardabil and Ramhormoz prisons

Iranian authorities executed at least four prisoners, Mehrdad Sahebi, Nader Sheikhlu, Mohammad Zahedi, and a fourth man whose identity remains under investigation, in Ardabil and Ramhormoz prisons in recent days. All had been sentenced to death in separate cases on charges of “premeditated murder.”

According to information received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, three Turk prisoners were executed in Ardabil Central Prison in the early hours of Monday, August 10, 2026. Two of them were Mehrdad Sahebi, 22, and Nader Sheikhlu, 26.

Sahebi, from Ardabil, was arrested three years ago at the age of 19 following an altercation at a billiards club and subsequently sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for “premeditated murder.”

Sheikhlu, an auto body repairer and painter, was arrested about four years ago following an unintentional altercation and subsequently sentenced to qisas.

The third prisoner, whose identity remains under investigation, was approximately 35 years old and had been sentenced to death for the murder of a woman. He was transferred from another prison to Ardabil Central Prison before his execution. State-affiliated media reported his execution without disclosing his identity.

Separately, Mohammad Zahedi, 28, was executed in Ramhormoz Prison in Khuzestan province in the early hours of Sunday, August 9, 2026. He had been arrested three years earlier on charges of “premeditated murder” and sentenced to death.

Apart from domestic media reports concerning one of the prisoners executed in Ardabil, the other executions have not been announced by Iran’s official media or judiciary-affiliated sources.

Execution in Isfahan

Aref Karimian, a 38-year-old prisoner previously sentenced to death for “premeditated murder,” was executed in Isfahan Central Prison (Dastgerd Prison).

According to information received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Karimian, from Khomeyni Shahr, was executed in the early hours of Tuesday, August 11, 2026.

Karimian, who was married and the father of one child, had been arrested four years earlier on charges of “premeditated murder” and subsequently sentenced to death under qisas (retributive justice) by the Iranian judiciary.

His execution has not been announced by Iran’s state media or judiciary-affiliated sources.

Execution in Zanjan

Payam Pakzad, a 41-year-old Kurdish prisoner from Bojnord who had previously been sentenced to death under qisas (retribution-in-kind) for “premeditated murder,” has been executed in Zanjan Central Prison.

According to information received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Pakzad’s execution was carried out at dawn on Saturday, August 8, 2026, in Zanjan Central Prison.

Informed sources told Hengaw that Pakzad was a father of four. He was arrested three years ago while working on a construction project, following the killing of a person at his workplace. The Iranian judiciary subsequently sentenced him to death.

His execution has not been announced by Iran’s state media or judiciary-affiliated sources.

Source: Hengaw, Staff, August 13-17, 2026

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
— Oscar Wilde

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